Topic: 30 foot Airstreams any kind

[AirEgger]

We have a 2012 30ft FC and pull it with a 2002 F250 diesel. At scales, we weight just over 14000 lbs for truck and trailer. Our tongue weight is 920 lbs. The truck handles the load with relative ease and we get between 11 and 14 mpg, depending on terrain. With the truck weighing a little more than the trailer, it has the weight to handle the trailer on the road. I wouldn't want to pull it with a smaller truck.

[Grapes]

A) Please tell us what 30 f Airstream you own? And it's dry weight ?
B) Please tell us what tow vehicle you use and how good it pulls?


I own a 1979 Sovereign International

31'...

Dry weight with the hitch is 7100 pounds (according to the marker on the front of the trailer)...

We tow our monster with a 1986 Ford F-250 v8 Manual and still have 1500 more pounds to add to the hitch before it goes too overloaded!

No problems so far!! We went up the Siskyous with no problem, up the Grapevine in CA with no problem.

[andreasduess]

We tow a 34' 1984 International with a dry weight of 6250lbs with a Honda Odyssey minivan. With WD in place, the car only carries about 500lbs when the trailer is fully loaded - payload is 1400lbs, hp are 260, weight of the vehicle and the trailer are roughly equal.

[m.hony]

Originally Posted by m.hony

I still need to go to the Cat scales for the true numbers, but I think our combined rig might weigh 14,000#. We are not unhitching tonight because we are leaving in the morning.

I was close- our rig ready to camp weighs 14,460#.
Front GVW 3900
Front actual 3060
Difference 840
Rear GVW 4150
Rear actual 3960
Difference 190
How do I transfer more weight to the front axle?

[m.hony]

Equal-i-zer hitch.

[withidl]

See my avatar and do a search on "withidl". My assembly is a 2002 ASCL 31' with a GVWR of 8,300# towed by a BMW X5 with a GVWR of ~6,000#. The X5 has 300 hp and 350+ #' of torque. Hitch interface is a Hensley.

[m.hony]

I can't afford a BMW X5...
My "stinkin' pickup" has 381 hp and 400 ft lbs of torque.
It has 30,000 miles.
I'm gonna run what I brung.

[Jim Flower]

Hello Happydays,

We tow our 30' 2012 Signature with a 2008 Jeep GC diesel. If you read some of my posts, you will see that it works really well, and it doesn't matter if you are on the prairies, in the mountains, or on some of the steep grades found on the back roads of the Appalachians. The Airstream weighs in at 7600 lbs according to the scales just east of Hinton and the combination achieves 14.7 mpg. It fits in most gov campgrounds but does have a problem at the BDI. The Jeep has been modified by CanAm in London. I hope the new Jeep diesels are as good as this one has been. Others have had excellent success with diesel SUVs, Minivans, Durangos, Volvos, and almost any truck. Go Bombers. Jim

[Andrew T]

Hi Happy Days

Do you have a vehicle now that you would like to tow with? I cannot think of any vehicle that will tow a 30' that won't tow a 34'. I generally find a 34 tows a little better than a 30'.

Andrew T

[aquinob]

Originally Posted by andreasduess

We tow a 34' 1984 International with a dry weight of 6250lbs with a Honda Odyssey minivan. With WD in place, the car only carries about 500lbs when the trailer is fully loaded - payload is 1400lbs, hp are 260, weight of the vehicle and the trailer are roughly equal.

UMM. Are you saying you are towing a 6200 lb trailer with a van that has a 3500 lb tow rating? Maybe I'm missing something but it sounds like you are about double the max for that vehicle.

[andreasduess]

Originally Posted by aquinob

UMM. Are you saying you are towing a 6200 lb trailer with a van that has a 3500 lb tow rating? Maybe I'm missing something but it sounds like you are about double the max for that vehicle.

There are a number of threads in existence that discuss manufacturer published tow ratings. This thread should give you all the information you need to come to your own conclusions.